Books I Like

Books On Writing Right Suggested to Pat Nipper by Richard Burns in Oct 2008

Some of my favorite instructive books are as follows:

Hooked – Write Fiction that Grabs Readers … *****
Les Edgerton

Getting Into Character – Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors *****
Brandilyn Collins

Emotional Structure – Creating the Story Beneath the Plot *****
Peter Dunne

Growing Great Characters from the Ground Up *****
Martha Engber

How to Write Killer Fiction – The Funhouse of Mystery & … *****
Carolyn Wheat

Novelist’s Boot Camp – 101 Ways to Take Your Book from Boring to Bestseller ****
Todd A. Stone

Blockbuster Plots ****
Martha Alderson

Writing the Mind Alive – The Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice ****
Linda Trichter Metcalf and Tobin Simon

Astrology for Dummies [Helps Me Invent Characters and their Traits] ****
Ray Orion

Creating Characters – How to Build Story People ***
Dwight V. Swain

Writing with Style – Conversations on the Art of Writing [Essays] ***
John R. Trimble

ON DECK (i.e., next to read):

The Complete Idiot’s Guide [to] Getting Published [Yet to be read]
Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Baseye Sander

Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel – How to Knock ‘Em Dead …[Yet to be read]
Hallie Ephron

Don’t Murder Your Mystery – 24 Fiction-Writing Techniques … [Yet to be read]
Chris Roerden

Models for Writers – Short Essays for Composition [Yet to be read – Essay Writing]
Alfred Rosa and Paul Eschholz

Have a good day. Or if it’s bad, make it grist for your writing mill.

Procrastination

It's my new swear word: "procrastination." Like my grandpa used to say "tarnation." One of those.

With my long anticipated trip to France coming tomorrow (yes, a week in Paris) and a plethora of other even more lame excuses, my writing time has suffered.

Upon return, I will have a daily reminder on my calendar for a month to write 2 hours per day before drinking coffee and having breakfast. (ALL the time will be dedicated to further polishing my novel, Sagebrush at Snow-Mountain Creek). If nothing else, it should help me lose weight by forcing me to skip breakfast. Ha!

I have posted on my calendar similar reminders to send query letters to agents and any follow up. Do others of you out there in blog-space have a fear of success like I do? Where does this procrastination spring from? Do you have similar tales or secret solutions? --rb